The HCG Diet that was created by Dr. Simeons back in the 1950s has been enjoying a new spell of popularity thanks to a nod from Kevin Trudeau. In his diet book, Mr. Trudeau talks of the benefit of using HCG and organic foods to promote healthy weight loss. While this might be true, there are many skeptics of the approach.

Dr. Simeons researched for many years into the causes and potential treatments of obesity. While it was originally thought that overweight and obese people were fat because of overeating or not being disciplined enough when it came to restricting calories. Dr. Simeons’ research led him to conclude that some medical conditions actually changed a mechanism in the body that regulates food storage. When some people started a calorie-restricted diet, they would actually gain weight as their bodies viewed the calorie restriction as starvation and began to turn all intake of food into fat storage for the “famine” the body thought it was experiencing.

Using HCG, or human chorionic gonadatropin, patients were able to follow a very restricted calorie diet and lose a great deal of weight. Dr. Simeons felt as though he had created an obesity cure and many doctors of the time agreed. Today there is a renewed interest that is again drawing critics to this method of weight loss.

The critics of the HCG diet say that HCG is dangerous and should not be used by anyone to lose weight or for any other reason. Dangers sited include nausea, pain and headaches. Vomiting and fatigue has also been reported. The Food and Drug Administration have not approved HCG usage and so the results that are often reported are deemed by some to be completely fabricated. Odd symptoms of depression and weight gain are not unheard of, which fly in the face of what the proponents of HCG therapy claim.

Is there any truth to the claims of HCG being unsafe? Perhaps there are a few risks, but honestly, most of them are only going to happen when there is an over usage of the HCG. When taken as prescribed, HCG supplements accompanying a healthy diet plan of restricted calories is helpful in most patients. Clinical research has been carried out in many different clinics and has been proven as safe as or even safer than any of the over-the-counter weight loss methods available in your local drug store. Before starting any weight loss system, check with your doctor.